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There will be no big shakeups at A.J. Foyt Racing for the 2014 IndyCar season

October 31, 2013

A.J. Foyt Racing is in the final stages of re-signing Takuma Sato to its IndyCar team. Photo by LAT PHOTOGRAPHIC

Expect no surprises from A.J. Foyt Racing for the 2014 IndyCar season, team manager Larry Foyt told Autoweek on Friday.

Foyt said the team is in the final stages of re-signing driver Takuma Sato and that the team has a verbal agreement to continue with Honda Performance Development for its engines.

Sato’s situation has been publicly questioned given the way the recently completed season ended. The famed No. 14 car failed to finish any of the final five races and nine of the final 10. Some of the instances were of Sato’s doing, including running into Ryan Hunter-Reay on pit road at Pocono Raceway in July; others were not. Five of the retirements were listed as mechanical.

But Foyt said the plan has always been to bring Sato back.

“We’re just trying to finalize the last details,” he said.

Sato had his bright moments, winning the team’s first race since 2002 when he captured the Long Beach race in April. He nearly won the race following that, in Sao Paulo, only to be passed in the final corner by James Hinchcliffe.

At that point, Sato led the points standings, but the series of difficulties down the stretch reduced him to 17th.

Foyt said the re-signing of Sato, who won the pole for the second Houston race in October, and the continued partnership with HPD are linked, although he did not give specifics.